License to (learn how to) Drive

Tom got his driver's learning permit today. I have been so focused on jumping through all the hoops to get this permit that I hadn't really thought through the implications of it.

Now I need to let him drive.

The process for getting a learner's permit is not easy. No one really knows how to do it. Even people who just did it can't really tell you what they did. There are so many forms to fill out and you have to take the proper ID and if anything is missing, you have to start over. I've heard stories from my friends about going to the DMV and waiting for hours only to find out they were missing something and they would have to come back when they had the paperwork in order.

I took the afternoon off today so I could take Tom to the DMV. I read everything I could find about what to take and still wasn't sure if I had it all, but decided to take the chance anyway.

We got there about 11:45 and was told to take a number. We were number 22 and they were on 6. The secretary at Tom's school told us she heard people were having to wait for 3 hours. It looked like we had along wait ahead of us. As it turned out, we got there at a good time. Apparently, some people had been waiting so long that they left. We had only been there about an hour when our number was called. Another thing that sped the process along was all the people who didn't have the right paperwork so they were told to came back later.

When we finally got to the desk, I handed the lady all my papers and she started sorting through them. She kept looking at me and then at the papers and the whole time I'm thinking she's going to send us away. She finally looked up at me and said, " Did you ever live in the country?" All I could say was "uhhhhhh". Then she finally said, "Did you live out by Jarrell?" I immediately nodded and said, "Yes!" I didn't know it yet but this was my lucky day.

She was the daughter of our neighbor when we lived in the "country". She remembered me! So here we are at the DMV in a room full of impatient and borderline angry people and she wants to chat with me about old times and how big my kids are and she can't belive one of them is old enough to drive. She was having a great time, but I could feel daggers in my back. She goes through my papers and tells me there are 2 forms that I haven't filled out yet. Now, I had been listening to this lady for at least an hour while I was waiting and she had sent many people away for not having papers already filled out. She handed me a pen and pointed to the lines I needed to fill out! God was looking out for us and sent us to an angel. She was so nice and helped me though all the papers. Tom passed his test and we walked out at 1:00.

My lucky day didn't end there. I have a family picture that I have been wanting to get framed, but I have been waiting for Hobby Lobby to put their custom frames on half price. They used to do it all the time. I've been watching the ads for a long time and I haven't seen that sale so I finally decided they must not do it any more so I would just have to pay full price for a frame. I walked in to the store today with the picture in my hands and there was this huge banner that said, "Custom Frames 50% off". I couldn't believe it.

I let Tom drive a little. I think he'll be a pretty good driver.